World Book Day: 22 Iron Maiden songs inspired by books
From 'Brave New World' to 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'
With their songs tackling weighty subjects like history, religion, mythology, literature, film, war and society, few bands can match Iron Maiden for their lyrical prowess.
To celebrate World Book Day, Planet Rock takes a look at 22 Iron Maiden songs that have overt links to literary works, from books to poems and essays.
Of course, there are no shortage of tunes to choose from – many songs on Iron Maiden’s 1983 ‘Piece of Mind’ are connected to literature, while the whole of their 1988 ‘Seventh Son of a Seventh Son’ concept album is based on Orson Scott Card's novel Seventh Son.
From tracks that follow the same narrative as the books on which they’re based, to others that have more tenuous links, check out some of the greatest Iron Maiden literary songs below!
22 Iron Maiden songs inspired by books and poems:
‘Lord of the Flies’ (1995)
Written by Janick Gers and Steve Harris for Iron Maiden's first Blaze Bayley era album 'The X Factor', 'Lord of the Flies' is unsurprisingly inspired by William Golding's classic 1954 debut novel Lord of the Flies. The book follows a group of British boys who are marooned on an uninhabited island after their plane is shot down during a conflict. When their attempts to govern themselves spiral into disaster, the students soon descend into savagery.
‘Brave New World’ (2000)
The title track on Iron Maiden's 12th studio album 'Brave New World' is directly inspired by Aldous Huxley's 1932 dystopian science fiction novel Brave New World. Written by Dave Murray, Steve Harris and Bruce Dickinson, the song's lyrics perfectly reflect Huxley's claustrophobic and grim futuristic World State that's inhabited by genetically modified citizens and an intelligence-based social hierarchy. Bruce sings at the start: "Dying swans, twisted wings / Beauty not needed here / Lost my love, lost my life / In this garden of fear." The 'Brave New World' album artwork by Derek Riggs and Steve Stone also nods towards the book.
‘When The Wild Wind Blows’ (2010)
'When The Wild Wind Blows', the 11-minute Steve Harris-penned closing track on 'The Final Frontier', is loosely based on Raymond Briggs' post-nuclear fallout graphic novel from 1982, When The Wind Blows. The book tells of a nuclear attack on Britain by the Soviet Union from the viewpoint of a retired couple, Jim and Hilda Bloggs. Unlike the book, Iron Maiden's song ends with a plot twist – the couple who took their ultimately own lives "mistook an earthquake for the fallout." David Bowie, Tears for Fears and Mansun are among the other artists who have written songs about When The Wind Blows.
‘Children of the Damned’ (1982)
Lifted from Iron Maiden's seminal third studio album 'The Number of the Beast', 'Children of the Damned' embraces the themes of 1960 movie Village of the Damned and its 1964 sequel Children of the Damned, which were based on John Wyndham's 1957 science fiction book The Midwich Cuckoos. The book is about the fictional English village of Midwich where the women become pregnant by brood parasitic aliens. In keeping with the song's weighty subject matter, Steve Harris' lyrics are highly unflinching: "Smiles as the flame sears his flesh / Melting his face, screaming in pain / Peeling the skin from his eyes / Watch him die according to plan / He's dust on the ground, what did we learn?"
‘The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner’ (1986)
Only performed live once by Iron Maiden, classic 'Somewhere in Time' track 'The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner' is based on Alan Sillitoe's (pictured) short story The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner from 1959. The book follows a poor Nottingham teenager called Smith who is imprisoned at a young offenders' institute for robbing a bakery. However, he manages to escape his life of crime and bleak prospects by embracing long-distance running.
‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ (1984)
Clocking in at a whopping 13 minutes and 45 seconds, 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' is Iron Maiden's second longest song ever behind 'Empire of the Clouds.' A musical retelling of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's sprawling 1798 poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the song's vast length seems particularly apt given the subject matter. Closing Iron Maiden's 'Powerslave' magnum opus, 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' contains some of the 600+ lines from Coleridge's poem about a sailor who has returned from an eventful sea voyage.
‘The Longest Day’ (2006)
Like many songs of Iron Maiden's critically lauded fourteenth album 'A Matter of Life and Death', 'The Longest Day' deals with the hard-hitting theme of war, and, in this instance, the D-Day invasion of Normandy on 6th June 1944 during World War II. The track shares its name from Cornelius Ryan's 1959 book The Longest Day, and it's packed with lyrics that highlight the horrors of war.
‘Murders in the Rue Morgue’ (1981)
Steve Harris based Iron Maiden's 1981 song 'Murders in the Rue Morgue' on the 1841 short story The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe. Described as the first modern detective story, the book follows C. Auguste Dupin as he attempts to solve the mystery of the brutal murder of two women. Iron Maiden's song lyrics are told from the perspective of a man stumbling upon the two dead bodies and then fleeing the scene after being falsely accused of committing the murders – something that doesn't happen in Edgar Allan Poe's book.
‘Still Life’ (1983)
The Dave Murray and Steve Harris penned 'Still Life' from Iron Maiden's fourth album 'Piece of Mind' was inspired by the 1964 short story The Inhabitant of the Lake by Ramsey Campbell. The lyrics follow an unnamed man who sees mysterious spirits and beings on a lake and becomes obsessed with them. Plagued by continuous haunting visions and nightmares, the man loses his sanity and ultimately jumps in the pool with his female partner.
‘Sun and Steel’ (1983)
One of many literary themed songs on 'Piece of Mind', 'Sun and Steel' is about legendary Japanese samurai swordsman Miyamoto Musashi but takes its name from the autobiographical essay Sun and Steel by Yukio Mishima. 38 years after 'Sun and Steel' appeared on 'Piece of Mind', Iron Maiden embraced the samurai theme once again on their 'Senjutsu' album.
‘Phantom of the Opera’ (1980)
A few years before Andrew Lloyd Webber brought his blockbuster Phantom of the Opera musical to London's West End, Iron Maiden unleashed their own interpretation of Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel on their self-titled debut album. Written by Steve Harris, the seven-minute epic sees Maiden traverse proggy musical realms as Paul Di'Anno spouts lyrics about the deformed conjurer Erik, aka The Phantom of the Opera.
‘Moonchild’ (1988)
The opening song on Iron Maiden's timeless seventh album 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' (itself a concept album inspired by the 1987 novel Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card), 'Moonchild' alludes to the 1917 novel Moonchild by British occultist Aleister Crowley. In the book, magician Cyril Grey attempts to save the human race by impregnating a woman called Lisa la Giuffria with a moonchild. In keeping with this, 'Moonchild' the song nods towards magic rituals, and it's also about 'the Unmaker of all things' trying to prevent the birth of the seventh son.
‘To Tame a Land’ (1983)
Steve Harris took inspiration for epic 'Piece of Mind' closer 'To Tame A Land' from Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction novel Dune. Herbert, who passed away in 1986, refused Iron Maiden permission to call the track 'Dune' due to his alleged dislike for rock music, so Maiden opted for 'To Tame A Land' instead. The seven-minute track contains many unique words Herbert used in his book including Fremen (native inhabitants of Arrakis), Caladan (the fiefdom of House Atreides), gom jabbar (a poison needle tipped with meta-cyanide) and Muad'Dib (the adapted kangaroo mouse of Arrakis).
‘The Trooper’ (1983)
Widely and rightfully regarded as one of the all-time classics of the heavy metal genre, Iron Maiden's enduring anthem 'The Trooper' was inspired by Lord Alfred Tennyson's 1854 poem The Charge of the Light Brigade. The narrative poem was published just six weeks after the failed military action dubbed the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War.
‘The Edge of Darkness’ (1995)
'The X Factor' track 'The Edge of Darkness' is inspired by Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 cinematic masterpiece Apocalypse Now. Coppola and John Milius' screenplay for Apocalypse Now was loosely based on Joseph Conrad's bleakly powerful 1899 novella Heart of Darkness with the setting changed from late 19th-century Congo to the Vietnam War.
‘Flight of Icarus’ (1983)
The lead single from Iron Maiden's 1983 album 'Piece of Mind' and recently revived on the setlist on The Legacy of the Beast World Tour, 'Flight of Icarus' is loosely based on the ancient Greek myth of Icarus. Imprisoned with his father Daedalus in the palace of Knossos on Crete, Icarus creates makeshift wings from feathers and wax to escape, however he flies too close to the sun and, with his wings melted, he plummets to his death. Icarus has been the subject of countless works of literature and artworks for over two thousand years.
‘Out of the Silent Planet’ (2000)
The second single from Iron Maiden's 'Brave New World' album, 'Out of the Silent Planet' takes its title from the 1938 C.S. Lewis science fiction novel of the same name. Despite its moniker, Bruce Dickinson has stated that 'Out of the Silent Planet' is primarily inspired by the 1956 sci-fi movie Forbidden Planet. Interestingly (and keeping things literary), the film has many plot parallels to William Shakespeare's early 17th century tragicomedy The Tempest.
‘The Prophecy’ (1988)
Following the album title track 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son', 'The Prophecy' continues the story of Alvin Miller from Orson Scott Card's Seventh Son book. Blessed with strong knacks (magical abilities), the protagonist in Iron Maiden's song tries to warn his fellow villagers of impending danger following a prophetic vision – "Now that I know that the right time has come / My prediction will surely be true / The impending disaster it looms / And the whole of the village is doomed, the seventh son of a seventh son." Sadly, his warnings aren't heeded and disaster looms.
‘Where Eagles Dare’ (1983)
Iron Maiden's 'Where Eagles Dare' is inspired by the 1968 World War II action film Where Eagles Dare, which in turn is based on Alistair MacLean's novel of the same name from two years earlier. MacLean also wrote the screenplay for the movie, which is considered more violent than the original novel. After 13 years of not being performed live, Iron Maiden revived 'Where Eagles Dare' for the Legacy of the Beast Tour in 2018 and the performance features a sound snippet from the film and Bruce Dickinson wearing snow camouflage.
‘The Sign of the Cross’ (1995)
One of several songs on 'The X Factor' with literary links, 'The Sign of the Cross' references the 1980 book The Name Of The Rose by Italian author Umberto Eco. A historical murder mystery set in an Italian monastery in the year 1327, many of the religious themes in The Name Of The Rose were embraced by Steve Harris when writing his 11-minute track – most notably in the lines "The sign of the cross / The name of the rose / A fire in the sky / The sign of the cross."
‘When Two Worlds Collide’ (1998)
The title of 'When Two Worlds Collide' is lifted from the highly influential 1933 science fiction novel When Worlds Collide by Philip Gordon Wylie and Edwin Balmer. The book is about a pair of rogue planets called Bronson Alpha and Bronson Beta that enter our Solar system, with the gas giant Alpha ultimately ending up on a collision course with planet Earth. Although the song reflects these themes, Steve Harris has stated that the lyrics were highly personal for Blaze Bayley: "Lyrically, I think Blaze was trying to write about the different sort of worlds he's lived in and maybe about how his world has had to change and adapt to the world of being Iron Maiden's singer."
Quest For Fire (1983)
'Quest For Fire' is inspired by the acclaimed 1981 movie of the same name starring Ron Perlman, and the film was based on the 1911 Belgian novel The Quest for Fire by J.-H. Rosny (Belgian brothers Joseph Henri Honoré Boex and Séraphin Justin François Boex). Set in Paleolithic Europe around 80,000 years ago, the book centres on prehistoric man's endless search for fire. Somewhat bizarrely, however, Steve Harris decided to insert dinosaurs into the lyrics despite them not being in either the book or film.
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